Immigration protests

So, I'm sure most of you know by now about the massive protests in LA a few days ago. I have a problem with that though.

Some of the things I heard on the media from the protestors:

"We're Americans too." Um, sorry, but no you're not. You're here illegally, you're NOT an American. Hopefully soon it will be a felony for you to be here.

"But we pick your food." You don't have to. I would be delighted to pay more for my potatoes, apples, etc. if it meant that an American was picking it.

"Bush is the worlds worst President." Yeah, I've heard that one already. Dont like it? Then go home!

Here's my other problem with this. We have half a million illegal aliens all in the same spot, basically saying "Hey, we're all here illegally." My question is this: why in the hell did they not start arresting them? Probably 95% of the people there are not Americans, and snuck into this country. They have NO right to protest!!!! Why are they allowed to do such and not be arrested?

Don't get me wrong, I am all for immigration. That is what this country was founded on, and what sets us apart from the rest. That said, I am for LEGAL immigration. Maybe if the Mexicans all didn't sneak across the border they wouldn't have a quota of zero, and could actually come here legally. Hopefully this will be the case someday soon.

Once again, it may not be the most popular move, but at least Bush is trying to do something about this situation.

Tags: Illegal alien, LA, Bush, Protest, Immigration, Reform

Rice warns against delays on Iran resolution

There can't be any stalling," Rice said in response to a question about U.S. efforts to get Russia and China to sign on to a strongly worded rebuke to Tehran.

To no ones surprise, Russia and China have refused to back a UN Security Council statement demanding Iran suspend uranium enrichment.

Does anyone else see this as absoultely ridiculous? How long is all this UN action going to take just to get a simple resolution? When you step away from all the little things flying around in the news, this is one of the most important events of our time. This is something that will be written about in history books. All this political crap that we see on a daily basis won't. This is something that can and will directly affect the future's of not only Americans, but the world as well.

So, again I ask, how much longer will we have to wait?

Tags: Iran, Nuclear, Bush, UN, resolution, Rice

250 year old turtle dies

Credited as being one of the world's oldest creatures, a giant tortoise died at a zoo in India. 250 years? WOW! That's quite a long time for an animal to live.

Saddam's connections to Bin Laden becoming more clear

Didn't believe it? Still don't believe it? Well I'm sure the MSM isn't helping to make that any more clear, are they?

"SADDAM HUSSEIN'S REGIME PROVIDED FINANCIAL support to Abu Sayyaf, the al Qaeda-linked jihadist group founded by Osama bin Laden's brother-in-law in the Philippines in the late 1990s, according to documents captured in postwar Iraq. An eight-page fax dated June 6, 2001, and sent from the Iraqi ambassador in Manila to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad, provides an update on Abu Sayyaf kidnappings and indicates that the Iraqi regime was providing the group with money to purchase weapons. The Iraqi regime suspended its support--temporarily, it seems--after high-profile kidnappings, including of Americans, focused international attention on the terrorist group."

From Stephen Hayes, in the 3/27/06 issue of The Weekly Standard.

Then there's this, also from those recovered documents.

"A 1997 document from Iraqi intelligence instructed agencies to keep confidential files away from U.N. teams, and to remove "any forbidden equipment." Saddam's inner circle entertained notions of reviving the programs someday, the newly released documents show. "The factories will remain in our brains," one unidentified participant told Saddam at a meeting, apparently in the early 1990s.

Regarding Fedayeen Saddam in al-Anbar, there is an entry that indicates that there is a group of Iraqi and Saudi Arabians numbering around 3,000 who have gone in an unofficial capacity to Afghanistan and have joined the mujahidin (mujahedeen, or holy warriors) to fight with and aid them in defeating the American Zionist Imperialist attack," the translated document stated.

But the U.S. was still unjustified in going into Iraq, right? That not to mention the fact that we removed an awful dictator, ending years of oppression and freed millions of people.

Tags: Iraq, Saddam, Bush, Documents

Good Morning America pokes back at Bush criticism

While getting ready this morning, I had Good Morning America on. One of their top stories was how the President took shots at the media yesterday for only reporting the bad news from Iraq. Well, it seemed as though they might actually for once take a fair look at the Iraq situation. That's what it sounded like from the intro anyway.

Then they threw it to one of their reporters over in Iraq. The point of the story was that they were going to present both positive and negative stories and let the viewers decide which one they would report on (through sending in email). Ok, seemed like a good idea, right? So, the reporter starts out with a caution for all viewers. He said something along the lines of "now as we take you through these stories, please remember that 38 reporters have been killed over here in Iraq, and another X amount have been injured. Also lets not forget about (insert name here) who was taken hostage and never heard from again." There was absolutely no point to adding this to the story. It had nothing to do with what the story was supposedly about. This reporter was not even out at the site of the bombings they were about to show.

They then showed about a 2 minute long clip of all the different stories out of Iraq yesterday. Apparently we were supposed to see good stories and bad stories and be able to decide for ourselves. Well, they showed bombings, beheadings, and killings for about the first minute and 45 seconds of the story. The end was basically "oh and by the way" soldiers helped build a school and hand out books to children, and there was also a festival that was banned under saddam. This story was absolutely pathetic and showed exactly why Bush was justified in saying what he did yesterday.

The reporter finished the story by adding that the Iraq media shows much more violence and more graphic pictures than the American press does. The way he said it was like saying "well, they're worse than us, so we must be justified." Once again, what did this have to do with the actual story. Oh yeah, nothing!

But, no, there is no liberal media, right?

Tags: Iraq, Liberal media, Bush, Good Morning America

American war casualties down for five straight months

I figured I would write on this because it certainly isn't something you hear too much on the MSM.

American casualties are down for five straight months. This has never before happened during the entire 36 month long war. In fact, the longest time of decreasing American deaths before this was just two months. Don't believe me? Check out this link.

In October, 96 American deaths were reported. Two-thirds of the way through this month, there have been 16 American deaths. While each death is tragic in its own right, certainly this is a positive sign.

While I don't think these numbers will necessarily stay quite this low, I hope that they will not go much higher than they are currently, and steadily decrease as time goes on.

This positive news also comes with some repurcussions. It seems (and I don't have numbers on this) that Iraqis have been dying more as the violence seems to be shifting to them. If anyone has any numbers on this beyond the "this many Iraqis have died in the war" number, then please post in the comments and I will add it to this post.

Tags: Tags: Iraq, Terrorist, Bush, Casualties

Protest much?

Attendance at the so called "worldwide anti war protests" was down quite a bit this year. It seems that pessimism and hatred for this war is at an all time high. Yet, people showed up in quite low numbers at protests around the world.

200 marched Sunday down New York's Fifth Avenue, 7,000 through downtown Chicago, 10,000 in Portland, 1,000 in Seoul, 15,000 in London. Still seems like a lot of people, right? Well when you compare those numbers to the millions, yes millions, who protested before and a couple years after the war, these protests don't seem quite so large.

If people are really so outraged over this war, more than they ever have been before, then where are they? I guess staying in their homes watching their favorite biased news source.

Crazy sheehan said "The support for this war has dwindled dramatically," she said. "The rest of America is on board with ending this war." You sure don't speak for me Cindy so why don't you watch what you're saying about the "rest of America."

Tags: Tags: Iraq, Bush, Anniversary, War

Feingold's failure

Well, as I thought would happen, the democrats are running away from Sen. Russell Feingold's resolution to censure the President. I guess they realize it's a waste of time and taxpayers money to go anywhere with this.

This censure resolution has only brought disgrace to Feingold and the democratic party as a whole. I think this move personifies the thought process for the members of the democratic party. That is "bring the President down, and our stature will surely go up." Well, that's partly turned out to be true, but the democrats definitely have not seized many of the opportunities they've had over the past six or seven months. Ever since katrina, Bush has taken a big hit. Yet, somehow democrats have failed to gain very much ground. The question remains, why?

Well, I have an answer for you. It's that they're just speaking with the same rhetoric that lost them the elections in 2004. They bash the President, say he's moving the country in the wrong direction, yet propose no meaningful ideas to change this. They would rather bring down the President and the democratic party than actually move the country forward.

Tags: Feingold, Censure, Bush, Democrats

Free speech for all

Take a look at this story which I found today as the headline on CNN's website. It's quite a compelling story of a writer living in Baghdad. I think the most important exchange was on a bus that the writer was riding on the way to work.

As I rode on the bus, most people started out quiet, but within minutes the silence was broken.

"Look! I cannot believe this could happen to us," an old man said pointing his finger at a line of cars that stretched for more than a kilometer outside a gas station -- amazed that an oil-rich country is dealing with an oil crisis for its own people.

"Habibi (my dear), our oil is being stolen by the Americans and the new Iraqi government. What oil are you talking about?" another man replied.

It's not a view shared by most in Iraq, but it is a view that some hold.

Across the aisle, an old woman who sat quietly listening to the exchange in a simple manner brought the debate to an end. "We do not want anything but to live in Iraq safely."

Iraqis often speak of fuel shortages, a lack of electricity, the void in stability, all the things that deeply affect their daily life. Some also speak of the past.

"Life was much better under Saddam," one man said from the back of the bus.

But he couldn't finish the sentence. An angry man at the other end of the bus, turned around and yelled, "What was better under Saddam? Give me one example. Are you talking about the wars Saddam put us through? Or the mass graves that he created during his era? Or the torture centers? Tell me one thing that was better under Saddam and I will applaud you."

As we approach the third anniversary since the fall of that towering statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square in central Baghdad, there are many who have no desire to look back.

"Let's not talk about life under Saddam because it has gone away with the past. Now we have a new life, a new political process and a new government," chimed in a young man sitting in the front next to the driver.

Probably one of the most interesting points here, and one I think most Americans will never appreciate is the free speech these Iraqi citizens were given under their Constitution. Free speech which they never had under Saddam's regime.

Listening to the exchange was remarkable because it never could have happened under Saddam. Before the war, nobody could voice frustration or anger.

There was no free press to question politicians. Now, when there is so much to talk about, we can finally exercise that right. Whether riding the bus or sitting at restaurants, talking freely has become part of the atmosphere everywhere.

This was overall a pretty well written article, and definitely one you should check out.

Tags: Iraq, Terrorist, Insurgent, Saddam

Jessica Simpson loves President Bush?

Who would have ever thought that Jessica Simpson is a huge fan of President Bush?

Jessica's father and manager Joe Simpson said "We are huge fans of him and of his family, his girls. Jessica loves the heck out of him."

Tags: Jessica Simpson, Bush

Why do I like the President you ask?

The answer is simple:

"I understand some of the things I've done are unpopular," the President said. "But that's what comes with the territory. If you're afraid to make decisions and you only worried about whether or not people are going to say nice things about you, you're not leading."

He hit the nail on the head. He doesn't care how popular he is. He's not afraid to make a decision that goes against some stupid poll. This is exactly why I like this President. No, he's not a popular guy, but that's because sometimes he knows his decisions are more important than pleasing everyone. Regardless of whether or not you like him, you can't question his leadership.

Thanks to Right from Left for bringing this quote to my attention.

Tags: Bush, Poll, Popularity, Leader

Hail and tornadoes oh my!

Here's some pictures from the hailstorm that came through on Sunday. Luckily the tornadic part of the supercell missed us by a few miles. But we got the largest hail, a little over two inches at largest. And let me tell ya, it was LOUD! You know how they always talk about a tornado sounding like a freight train? Well, we definitely heard that and we were downstairs in a two story house. We took cover because it looked on radar like the rotational part of the storm was headed right at us. When we came out after a couple minutes, this is what we found:



Most of the cars on the street had their windows busted out. Luckily ours were in the garage.



Just minutes after the storm passed, an eerie fog developed. It was about 70 degrees outside and there was a very weird smell in the air. There were people standing outside every duplex on the street, looking at the damage and just standing there on the cell phone or taking pictures. The fog did provide for some good pictures though:



Tags: Storm, Hail, Tornado, Midwest

Russ Feingold to introduce legislation to censure the President

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) said he will introduce legislation to censure the President over the "domestic" spying program.


"The president has broken the law and, in some way, he must be held accountable."

Don't know what a censure is? Well that wouldn't surprise me since it's only been done once in US history! (against Andrew Jackson in 1834). Basically all a censure does is to scold the President (tsk tsk you bad bad man). May I ask, what's the point of this? I thought this type of thing was done away with after 5th grade. Is it really in the best interests of our taxpayer dollars to be pushing legislation giving the President a slap on the wrist? So, there must be something else going on here. Well, what could it be....hmmm.

I got it! Could Feingold be prepping himself for a White House run?! Yes, that's it! It's just ridiculous what some of these people *cough* Clinton *cough cough* are doing in preperation for 2008. Shouldn't they be focusing on making our country a better place to live instead of proposing meaningless legislation on a fight that's already been fought?

"Congress has to reassert our system of government, and the cleanest and the most efficient way to do that is to censure the president," Feingold said. The president's actions were "in the strike zone" in terms of being an impeachable offense, Feingold said, but he questioned whether impeaching Bush and removing him from office would be good for the country.

Oh, well, that's comforting to hear.

Tags: Feingold, Censure, domestic spying, Clinton,

Iraqi Mayor's Letter to Departing US Regiment

Thanks to David over at David's Right for this:

In a letter from the Mayor of Tall ‘Afar, Ninewa, Iraq.

In the Name of God the Compassionate and Merciful

To the Courageous Men and Women of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who have changed the city of Tall’ Afar from a ghost town, in which terrorists spread death and destruction, to a secure city flourishing with life.

To the lion-hearts who liberated our city from the grasp of terrorists who were beheading men, women and children in the streets for many months.

To those who spread smiles on the faces of our children, and gave us restored hope, through their personal sacrifice and brave fighting, and gave new life to the city after hopelessness darkened our days, and stole our confidence in our ability to reestablish our city.

Our city was the main base of operations for Abu Mousab Al Zarqawi. The city was completely held hostage in the hands of his henchmen. Our schools, governmental services, businesses and offices were closed.

Our streets were silent, and no one dared to walk them. Our people were barricaded in their homes out of fear; death awaited them around every corner. Terrorists occupied and controlled the only hospital in the city.

Their savagery reached such a level that they stuffed the corpses of children with explosives and tossed them into the streets in order to kill grieving parents attempting to retrieve the bodies of their young.

This was the situation of our city until God prepared and delivered unto them the courageous soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, who liberated this city, ridding it of Zarqawi’s followers after harsh fighting, killing many terrorists, and forcing the remaining butchers to flee the city like rats to the surrounding areas, where the bravery of other 3d ACR soldiers in Sinjar, Rabiah, Zumar and Avgani finally destroyed them.

I have met many soldiers of the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment; they are not only courageous men and women, but avenging angels sent by The God Himself to fight the evil of terrorism.

The leaders of this Regiment; COL McMaster, COL Armstrong, LTC Hickey, LTC Gibson, and LTC Reilly embody courage, strength, vision and wisdom.

Officers and soldiers alike bristle with the confidence and character of knights in a bygone era. The mission they have accomplished, by means of a unique military operation, stands among the finest military feats to date in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and truly deserves to be studied in military science. This military operation was clean, with little collateral damage, despite the ferocity of the enemy. With the skill and precision of surgeons they dealt with the terrorist cancers in the city without causing unnecessary damage.

God bless this brave Regiment; God bless the families who dedicated these brave men and women.

From the bottom of our hearts we thank the families. They have given us something we will never forget.

To the families of those who have given their holy blood for our land, we all bow to you in reverence and to the souls of your loved ones. Their sacrifice was not in vain. They are not dead, but alive, and their souls hovering around us every second of every minute. They will never be forgotten for giving their precious lives. They have sacrificed that which is most valuable. We see them in the smile of every child, and in every flower growing in this land.

Let America, their families, and the world be proud of their sacrifice for humanity and life.

Finally, no matter how much I write or speak about this brave Regiment, I haven’t the words to describe the courage of its officers and soldiers. I pray to God to grant happiness and health to these legendary heroes and their brave families.

NAJIM ABDULLAH ABID
AL-JIBOURI
Mayor of Tall ‘Afar,
Ninewa, Iraq

Wow, how powerful is that? When do we ever hear news such as that on the MSM? Ya know, Iraq is a dangerous place, but not how the MSM would have you believe. The vast majority of cities in Iraq are safe and much better than they were under saddam's regime.

But the liberal media just love to throw around their poll numbers, usually taken exclusively from Baghdad saying how much worse the place is since the US invasion three years ago.

I just think its important for people to understand that there are a lot of good things going on over there, and how so many people's lives have been improved. We have given them a chance. A chance to live and prosper in a hopefully soon to be peaceful democracy.

Bush approval rating hits new low

Well, after rebounding for a while after Katrina, Bush's approval numbers continue to slide. The newest AP-Ipsos poll puts him at 37% with a margin of error of 3%.

These numbers seem indicate that Bush isn't really losing democrats anymore, he's pretty much lost them all. Bush is starting to lose some Republicans though. I could be wrong, but I really don't think that they could go too much lower unless he does something incredibly stupid, like Nixon. I think I've heard numbers that his main base is somewhere around 34%, so unless he starts to lose some of them, his poll numbers shouldn't go much below that. But with such a liberal media, and constant attacks, many times for no reason, who knows.

Now I'm certainly not entirely blaming the media for this. Let's face it, things could be going much better in Iraq, the Katrina response could have been better, and he was apparently wrong about the ports deal (or so everyone tells me).

It just doesn't make much sense. Think about it this way: after Katrina, it seemed like the entire nation hated the President for his poor response. His poll numbers did decline, but only to around the mid to high 30's. My question is, could the recent ports controversy really be considered worse in people's eyes than the Katrina response? Apparently so.

Tags: Bush, Poll, AP, approval rating,

Bush averts tragedy

There's no doubt in my mind that Bush was in a tough position on this ports deal. His own party was using politics against him in order to not get his veto, by attaching provisions to stop the ports deal to legislation providing funding for katrina cleanup and troops in Iraq. Bush had threatened a veto on any legislation to try to stop the Dubai port sale. Would he have actually vetoed? We may never know, but probably would have found out in the next few weeks had Dubai not caved and decided to give up its stake.

I truly thought this whole situation would have blown over by now. I thought people would realize that the company would not control port security. I thought Congress would actually do a reasonable investigation and conclude with a majority that the ports deal could be allowed. Little did I know just how close the upcoming elections are. Democrats, not surprisingly, but also Republicans (62-2 bipartisan vote in the House Appropriations Committee to block the deal) in large numbers broke away from the President on this issue. The media is playing this all out to be a huge rift in the Republican party. They are saying that Bush is pretty much done for because the Republicans are all going to break away from him the rest of his term. I don't think this is true though. We may see more of it until the midterm elections, but I really think that's the main reason. The media is using this opportunity to once again bash the President in showing that even his own party won't stand with him anymore.

One of my first thoughts when I heard that Dubai was pulling out the deal, is did Bush have anything to do with convincing them. You're already hearing this speculation in the media, so I'm sure this isn't the last we'll hear about it. I would say he probably did, but the question is, does it really matter? Bill Clinton was proven to have advised top officials from Dubai on how to best handle this situation in suggesting a 45 day investigation (as I wrote about here).

All in all, Bush had a pretty good day yesterday. He signed the renewed Patriot Act into law, and was averted from possibly the biggest crisis in his recent Presidency.


Tags: Bush, Dubai, Port, UAE,

Clooney is a nut job

George Clooney, responding to a joke from the Host Jon Stewart at the Academy Awards, claimed that Hollywood being out of touch is in fact a good thing.

"Welcome to the 78th Academy Awards... For many of you, this is the first night any of you voted for a winner," Stewart said. This is "the one night of the year when you can see all your favorite stars without donating money to the Democratic party. A lot of people say Hollywood is too liberal... a pleasure dome... a moral black hole... a Sodom & Gomorrah...out of touch with mainstream America." (Taken from Public Figure's Beware who has a good post on the topic.)

To be fair, he also took shots at Bush, but thats beside the point.

Clooney, winning an award not long after Stewarts comments, said "And finally, I would say that, you know, we are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while. I think it's probably a good thing. We're the ones who talk about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. And we, you know, we bring up subjects. This Academy, this group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm proud to be a part of this Academy. Proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch."

Well, I'm glad Clooney is proud of himself. Perhaps he forgot that in 1939, America already had its first black congressman. In addition to that Hattie McDaniel played a slave.

The first black woman to get best actress was Halle Berry in 2002 for Monster's Ball. So don't give me crap that Hollywood is on the "leading edge" of controversial issues.

How about global warming? Yeah, yeah, they (Hollywood) talks a good talk, yet a vast majority of stars have multiple cars, most of which probably 15 miles to the gallon. They live in their big mansions surrounded by gates, and then say they're in touch with the American public? Haha, right.

"PrivatePigg" over at Public Figure's Beware has a good thought on the matter:

"Remember, George: Hollywood doesn't change the world, it merely reflects it. The real ground-breakers are wearing uniforms or holding office. They fight battles and change lives in a real way. If you want to talk about Civil Rights, the ground breakers were the little black children who integrated hostile Little Rock schools, and the mothers and fathers who fought to give their children an equal chance despite the unequal opportunities surrounding them. The important people were hardly the ones handing out statues for "good acting." Important people make real sacrifices. They don't make millions for being "Batman." You're an ass."

Tags: Clooney, Academy Awards, Stewart, liberal, Hollywood,

U.N. Watchdog Optimistic about Iran deal

"I am still very much hopeful that in the next week an agreement could be reached," Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA chief, told reporters.

The Internation Atomic Energy Agency's 35 member panel is apparently not going to talk about the Iran situation until tuesday or wednesday. Delegates believe that whatever they are going to do will stop short of sanctions.

Are you kidding me? First of all, I'm not sure how anyone can be optimistic about this situation. Iran has been buying time for the last three years. They have given the world the runaround, which I and many other people believe is to buy time for building nuclear weapons. Some say they may just be months away.

And what better does the IAEA have to be doing with their time than dealing with this Iran situation? I think its safe to say that nothing they could be doing would be more important than Iran right now. How long do we have to twiddle our thumbs before a nuclear warhead is flying over Iraq on its way to Israel.

We've known Iran's intentions for at least THREE years! And what have we done about it? Let the EU sit there and twiddle their thumbs. I ask, how much closer are we now than three years ago in ensuring that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon? My answer is we've taken many steps back.

And no sanctions? So let me get this straight, we don't listen when Iran threatens to "wipe Israel off the map" or envisions the world without a United States and Israel. But, we listen when they threaten actions in response to sanctions? Does this make any sense to anyone else reading this?

Tags: Iran, Nuclear, Israel, Bush, United States,

"Crash" wins best picture

The excellent movie Crash won best picture last night at the academy awards. It beat out the favorite "Brokeback Mountain." Now I haven't seen Brokeback, but Crash was simply an amazing movie, as I wrote about here.

"We are humbled by the other nominees in this category. You have made this year one of the most breathtaking and stunning maverick years in American cinema," said "Crash" producer Cathy Schulman.

If you haven't seen it yet, you should.

Tags: Oscar, Crash, academy awards

Conflict?

In a story brought to my attention by Getting Nothing But Static From MSM, former President Clinton has been helping the UAE navigate the political firestorm over the Port deal.

Clinton advised top officials from Dubai two weeks ago to propose a 45 day delay to allow for investigations. This happened even as his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, was leading efforts to stop the deal. Bill Clinton called the UAE a "good ally to America."

I like how liberal blogs have been saying that the only reason Bush is for this deal is because he's somehow getting money from it (even though there is absolutely no proof of this). However, consider this: In 2002, Clinton was paid $300,000 to address a summit in Dubai. So let me get this right, Clinton has clear ties to the UAE, but Bush has none. Yet, the liberal blogs still criticize the President for this deal, saying he must only be in it for his own personal gain. Interesting, don't ya think?

Tags: Bush, Clinton, UAE, Port Deal

New video shows Blanco saying New Orleans levees were fine

We've all seen the video shown all over the news about how Bush was warned that the levees could break, right? If you haven't, check out BTI's take on it. Well, a new video from the AP shows Governor Kathleen Blanco saying that the levees have not been breached, when in fact they were three hours before.

"We keep getting reports in some places that maybe water is coming over the levees," Gov. Kathleen Blanco said shortly after noon on Aug. 29 — the day the storm hit the Gulf coast.
"We heard a report unconfirmed, I think, we have not breached the levee," she said on a video of the day's disaster briefing that was obtained Thursday night by The Associated Press. "I think we have not breached the levee at this time."

I really don't think this is all that important except it shows the massive confusion and lack of information before the storm. So many people who are and were eager to just blame the President don't understand this simple fact. I'm not saying the President and federal government were perfect by any means. But how is Bush supposed to make a decision based on a person who was much closer to the action than he was?

I just wanted to post these two pictures to show how unfair the criticism was that "Bush was on vacation at Crawford" during the storm. I hate to tell you liberal bloggers that no matter where the President of the United States is, he is NEVER on vacation.


President Bush on a video teleconference with federal and state emergency management organizations on Hurricane Katrina from his Crawford, Texas ranch on Sunday, August 28, 2005.

President Bush and White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin appear from a narrow, windowless room at the president's Crawford, Texas, ranch.

Tags: Bush, New Orleans, Katrina, Blanco,

Bush reaches nuclear energy agreement with India

On his recent trip to India, Bush signed a deal in which the US will share some nuclear know how and nuclear fuel with India. The idea is to get India as a closer ally and to alleviate world oil prices by giving their fast growing economy an alternative energy source. In addition, India has agreed to allow inspections of most of its civilian nuclear power facilities. All in all, this is really quite a historic move. I think its important for us to have a close ally in the worlds largest democracy and gain more knowledge of their nuclear program.

Did you know that Bush's approval rating is much higher in India than in the US? An interesting comment left on Vodkapundit's site:
"10 thousand protest Bush? Bah! More people gather to watch when a cow upsets a hawker's handcart on an Indian Street! Bush's approval is at 40% in US, v/s 54% in India. That coupled with our population being more that thrice that of US means we have much more Bush fans than entire US population! We love him because we are a pragmatic bunch who can cut through the PC/lefty/dhimmi cr@p and see who is fighting the good fight." Interesting to say the least.

Critics are saying we shouldn't be entering this deal because it goes against rules set by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which India has not signed.

"Proliferation is certainly a concern and a part of our discussions, and we've got a good-faith gesture by the Indian government that I'll be able to take to the Congress," Bush said. "But the other thing that our Congress has got to understand is that it's in our economic interests that India have a civilian nuclear power industry to help take the pressure off the global demand for energy," the president said. "To the extent that we can reduce demand for fossil fuels, it will help the American consumer."

I think Bush is right here. Hopefully Congress will realize this and it won't become a partisan issue.

Even many liberal blogs I read were calling the agreement a success.



President Bush carries four-year-old girl in Hyderabad, India.

Tags: Bush, India, Nuclear, Nonproliferation